Janni Mai Larsen

My primary mediums are paintings and drawings and I work in an explorative, narrative universe.
Thematically, I often move between the contrasts light/darkness, growth/decay, pretty/ugly to explore the tensions, what is possible and impossible – also in my choice of technique, paint and execution.
Nature, social criticism, science, psychology, magic, spirituality, the uncanny and our shared psyche are my main inspirations. Jean Paul Sartre and Umberto Eco are amongst my recent philosophical inspirations.
My artworks often show the parallels between the inner and outer world and contain metaphors, symbols and mystique, e.g. empty, derelict houses that represents elements from the human subconscious, and volcanos which represents portals to other dimensions and levels of consciousness.
I aim to raise a curiosity where aesthetics is in dialogue with the ugly. At first glimpse you see a colourful, optimistic landscape, but at closer inspection you discover magical, strange and uncanny elements hidden in the landscape: Things are not what they appear to be – in utopia the dystopian darkness lurks.
I also have a social-critical view on the world we live in. Climate change caused by large-scale industry, CO2 emissions, over-con...

The Funen Academy of Arts
The Royal Danish Academy Of Fine Arts